Chen Xiang never intended to leave Song Chuyi a way out. These startled horses were originally just meant to create confusion and cause chaos—the real killing move was all behind this. Although it was said to be for assessing the young ladies, male-female propriety was still observed, with the men all kept in the waterside pavilion outside, watching from a distance.
The hunting grounds now contained only young ladies with no strength to truss a chicken.
Song Chuyi had anticipated that Chen Xiang couldn’t make her move silently and without trace, but she hadn’t expected Chen Xiang would make such a huge scene—looking at this situation, Chen Xiang’s target was clearly not just her alone. He probably wanted all the noble ladies here to be buried with her!
In a flash of insight, Song Chuyi immediately understood the deeper meaning—her reputation now was as one born under the Star Illumination. Both she and Song Jue, the Yulin Guard commander responsible for today’s security, were from the Song family. And presiding over today’s overall situation and responsible for the young ladies was Elder Du’s wife—she belonged to Prince Gong’s faction. When it came down to it, they were all sons of the Empress, and those here who belonged to the Crown Prince’s faction comprised the vast majority.
If all these people met with disaster, Song Chuyi would inevitably be blamed for her ill reputation, Song Jue would inevitably be censured for incompetence in his duties, and even Old Madam Du would be unable to escape responsibility and connection.
By then, even if they all luckily survived, it would be worse than death. And the people around the Crown Prince would probably have to carefully weigh the risks of serving him. A Crown Prince who couldn’t even protect his own people, with a large swath dying at once…
By then, Emperor Jianzhang would probably also blame the Crown Prince—when it came down to it, if the Crown Prince hadn’t been too eager for quick success and first caused the incident in Yangzhou, things might not have developed step by step to this point. In the end, Emperor Jianzhang might even think Prince Duan’s inner chamber troubles were also the Crown Prince’s doing.
Chen Xiang was clearly going all-in, prepared to drag others down with him—thinking about it, they were both people capable of such things. Prince Duan clearly had no future left, and Chen Xiang’s affairs were being dug out bit by bit. These two conscienceless madmen never intended to continue living or salvage anything. Now they only wanted to recklessly drag others to be buried with them!
What about Song Jue? Prince Duan had been obsessed with killing him for years—how could he possibly miss this opportunity?!
Chen Mingyu trembled in the crowd for a moment, then suddenly saw Song Chuyi lifting her skirt and rushing outward. Her heart stirred, and her body responded faster than her brain—she immediately lunged forward and grabbed her.
The one who happened to be leading the Yulin Guard on duty today was Song Chuyi’s elder brother Song Jue. Song Jue absolutely wouldn’t watch his sister come to harm. Following Song Chuyi would be the safest course.
Song Jue’s first response was to lead his men charging forward to save Song Chuyi—the situation far exceeded imagination. In such chaos, the mountain was also filled everywhere with Imperial Guards openly performing guard duties. If they took advantage of the confusion to slip down and shoot hidden arrows, Song Chuyi’s situation would be dire.
But he quickly discovered the situation was even more complex than he imagined. The field was full of pampered and privileged noble young ladies who, encountering such an incident, couldn’t remain calm. All of them scattered like rats, their crying mixed with screaming. There were people everywhere, injured horses everywhere. Trying to run in and find Song Chuyi was extremely difficult.
Song Chuyi was held fast by Chen Mingyu, unable to move. Fixed in place, she used all her strength but couldn’t shake off her grip. She couldn’t help feeling somewhat annoyed, but before she could get angry, she saw shadowy figures on the mountains on all sides.
Feeling somewhat dizzy, she realized the hunting grounds were surrounded by mountains on three sides, with large and small hillocks all around. With such terrain, she involuntarily looked toward the outside of the waterside pavilion and saw Ye Jingchuan and Zhou Weizhao had already leaped onto the fence heading this way.
“No!” She didn’t bother with Chen Mingyu’s extremely complex expression behind her and suddenly raised her voice to shout: “Everyone run toward the center and north! Quickly, the mountain is going to collapse!”
As if to prove her words, the mountain, which had already exposed some bare yellow mud from raining all night, rumbled as several rocks rolled down.
Chen Mingyu’s eyes immediately went blank. She abandoned Song Chuyi and ran regardless toward the direction Zhou Weizhao and Ye Jingchuan were coming from. Today she wore riding attire, so her running movements were swift and unimpeded. She soon ran a distance gasping for breath and quickly grabbed Zhou Weizhao’s sleeve corner: “Your Highness… it’s too dangerous, don’t go over there…”
The people in the pavilion on the mountain also sensed something was wrong. Before they could call out warnings, they discovered in alarm that the mountain was beginning to rumble and roll stones downward.
Even the experienced Old Madam Du couldn’t help but scream and frantically tried to rush down the mountain.
Song Chuyi’s sharp eyes caught sight of this, and her heart nearly stopped—Madam Yu was still up there! She cupped her hands and shouted upward: “Don’t move! Crouch down and stay there!”
Running down the mountain at this moment would be equivalent to seeking death. The pavilion where they were staying was at least guarded by the Imperial Guard and was close to the Jinwu Guard stationed on the north side, making it much safer than inside the hunting grounds.
Old Madam Du didn’t trust the words of a young girl, but Madam Yu immediately reacted, commanding them without room for doubt—after all, she came from the famously strong-willed and iron-boned Yu family. She naturally possessed an imposing manner, and this shout truly had some effect. In the end, no one else ran down the mountain to add to the chaos.
However, the few ladies who had already run down were inevitably more miserable. Those with legs crushed by stones halfway down were the lighter casualties. There were also those directly hit on the head by stones who fell to the ground unable to move at all.
With rocks on three sides, people had no choice but to listen to Song Chuyi’s words. Anyone with the slightest bit of rationality all ran desperately toward the north.
Zhou Weizhao quickly shook off Chen Mingyu’s entanglement. Just as he reached Song Chuyi, he suddenly stopped and urgently shouted to her: “Crouch down!”
Before Song Chuyi could react, Zhou Weizhao, who had pounced over, pulled her to the side. She immediately turned her head and saw a long blade that had already been driven into a horse’s belly.
Her elbows and knees both went numb from the huge impact, but Song Chuyi couldn’t care about the pain. She immediately realized things were bad. Sure enough, Zhou Weizhao pulled her forcefully, and a long blade slashed exactly where she had just fallen.
Chen Mingyu covered her mouth, nearly crying out, but compared to the other noble ladies whose legs had gone weak, she was far better off. After gasping for breath for a moment, her mind quickly resumed functioning. Looking at the black-clothed men wielding long blades surging down from the mountain, she turned without hesitation and ran north.
Many thanks to Aimeis00 and Cao Yu for the safety talismans. Today’s noon update is a bit late—being locked outside unable to get into my home was quite something.